Don't leave me alone with him!
by dragondrewversion2
Summary: Tigress and Po are left to take care of the Palace while the others are off on a mission. This can't end well.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

Synopsis:While the others are away on a mission, Po and Tigress are left to keep watch on the Palace to Tigress's contempt. Trying to make peace and be friends with the far too serious Tiger, Po tries to find something they can do for fun, which in turn causes a few problems.

Don't leave me with....him!

"What? You can't be serious!" Tigress yelled after hearing some very unwelcome news. Shifu and the rest of the Furious Five were going to the distant hills of the Shao Ping Province to settle a small scale feud between rival clans, and Tigress and Po were chosen for the important task of watching the Jade Palace while the rest were gone. Tigress, to say the least, was not happy.

"I am quite serious, you and Po are not needed for this mission, so you shall stay here." Shifu declared while preparing to leave. "But Master, why am I not needed? I'm just as useful as the rest of the Five!"

"The Shao Ping Province is notorious for two things: A)Harboring a complete distrust of Tigers and B)Having a great taste for Panda. So as you can see, your presence would simply make matters far worse."

"Aren't you a Panda, Master?"

"I'm a RED Panda yes, but they don't know that."

"Master, please don't leave me here alone with.....him." She pointed towards Po, who was _attempting _to train with the spinning wooden dummies with very little success....OK no success whatsoever.

"TIGRESS, I don't want to hear another word about it. You WILL stay here with Po, you WILL watch the Palace, and you WILL NOT argue with me any further. IS THAT CLEAR?" Shifu exclaimed with authority.

After a slight pause, she finally submitted to her fate, "Yes Master, and I apologize for my arrogant outburst." Shifu calmed to his normal state, "That's better, and apology accepted. PO, come here!" After hearing his master's call, Po scrambled out of the training area and stood next to Tigress. Visibly out of breath, he said, "You....called....me.....Master?"

"Yes Po. Crane, Viper, Mantis, Monkey, and I are going to the Shao Ping Province to settle a local matter, so you and Tigress are staying here to look after the Palace." Upon hearing this, Po immediately got excited. "OH SWEET, Po and Tigress, guarding the Palace against the unspeakable evils that may cause it harm. So, what kind of trouble will we be watching out for? Angry boars, rabid wolves, door to door salesmen?"

"No Po, I sincerely doubt that anyone will attack the Palace while we're gone, or attempt to sell us things, I simply want you two to make sure everything is kept in working order." Shifu explained, dumbing down Po's excitement greatly. "Awwww, I always get the boring jobs. I'm the Dragon Warrior for pity's sake, shouldn't I go with you guys to help out?"

"Yes, why don't you take Po, he might like the hospitality of the Shao Ping Province." Tigress suggested with an evil inner grin. Shifu just stared at her and said, "No, Po shall stay here with you, it has already been settled. Now if you will excuse me, I must see if the others are ready." Tigress and Po bowed as Shifu left. After he was gone, Tigress decided to lay down the law.

"Alright Panda listen up. Although I don't like it, it appears we are stuck together for the next few days, so let's just get some things straight. 1)Do not talk to me unless it is absolutely necessary, 2)I will be training by myself, so do NOT interrupt me under any circumstances, and 3)Respect my privacy-that means ALL of my privacy, got it?" Po simply nodded his head as Shifu reentered with the rest of the Five.

"We are ready to go. Take good care of the Palace and Po..."

"Yeah?" Po asked before Shifu simply stated, "Don't touch anything that even remotely resembles a Kung Fu artifact. The treasures in this Palace reflect the entire history of Kung Fu, so if any of it is damaged.....well, do you remember your first day of training?"

"Yeah why.......oh." Po realized as Shifu turned to leave with Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Monkey not far behind. Crane waved goodbye and said, "Take good care now, and stay out of my calligraphy stuff Po!"

"Why does everyone suspect I'm gonna break something?"

"Maybe because you usually do!" Monkey pointed out as he left with the others.

"Oh yeah. Well you guys will see, this place will be in such good shape when you get back, you won't even be able to recognize it!" Shifu cringed at the statement before opening the large front door of the Palace and, with the others in tow, exited, leaving Po and Tigress alone.

"Well it looks like we've got the whole place to ourselves, what do you want to...." Po stopped as he noticed that Tigress was gone. "Man, I've got to figure out how she does that!"

You know the drill. R & R.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

With Tigress somewhere around the Palace doing her own thing, Po wandered around looking for something to do. While looking around, he pondered why Tigress was so against staying behind with him. Ever since he defeated Tai Lung she seems to have been getting less and less nice around him. In fact, she downright hated him, and it always killed him on the inside. Maybe while the others were gone, he could figure out what was up with her and try to make peace.

While thinking about it, Po didn't realize that he was wandering aimlessly through the halls. The Palace was such a large place that he actually got lost. As he tried to find some familiar surroundings, he stumbled across a strange looking door. "Hm, that's funny. I don't remember ever seeing this door." Po stated before inching his way towards it.

Curiosity got the best of him and he grabbed the knob, twisted it, and slowly cracked open the door. Peering inside, he saw that it was too dark to see anything, so he lit a lantern from the hallway and tip-toed inside. Eerie was the best word to describe it.

"There's got to be some kind of light source in here....OW!" He shouted as he banged his head on what seemed to be some sort of hanging protrusion. Upon closer inspection, he found it to be a lantern. He lit the lantern which sent the flame up a wire to light what appeared to be hundreds of lanterns, all illuminating a very large room of treasures. To say the least, Po's jaw hit the floor.

The room was filled with neatly showcased Kung Fu relics, some of which, amazingly, Po had never even seen or heard about before. "Whooooooa, so freakin' awesome!" He shouted as he surveyed the rooms many wonders. Unknown Kung Fu scrolls, battle armor, magic talismans, all of which were starting to make Po shed a tear of joy. While gawking at the many items, he became entranced by one specific relic, a jewel encrusted box.

He had never seen anything like it. The lid was covered with rubies that were in the shape of a dragon. The sides were jade crystals that formed the image of a longer dragon. The lock was what looked like a dragon's claw that latched onto four loops, one for each claw. As Po became more enamored by the masterpiece, he had an idea.

"If I give this to Tigress as a present, maybe she would finally at least like me. Probably not, but it's worth a try." Po picked up the box, but then Shifu's voice echoed in his head, _Don't touch anything that even remotely resembles a Kung Fu artifact. _The sudden thought caused him to drop the box with a loud thud.

"OH NO, ohmanohmanohmanohman...." He panicked as he scrambled to pick up the box, sighing with relief upon finding that it was alright. "Whew, for a second there, I thought I really screwed up." Not wanting to risk any more trouble, he put the box back on the shelf and walked back towards the door. Po declared,"There's one emergency averted." and shut the door behind him, not realizing that after he left, the latch on the box began to strain until it popped off, allowing the box to open slightly, revealing an eerie glow.

Back in the training room...

Tigress was training harder than usual. She did everything there was to do in the room and yet she still wanted something else to do. She considered asking Po to spar, but quickly stopped the thought. To her, Po was just a lucky little kid who should be glad he wasn't killed by Tai Lung. She may have bowed to him, but that doesn't mean she has to like him.

Running out of ideas, she decided to just meditate, allowing herself to drift deeper into the inner recesses of her mind...deeper.....and deeper....and....SLAM! One of Tigress's eyes popped open as the door was opened by the only person who would be stupid enough to interrupt her. "Panda, what did I tell you about disturbing me while I was training?"

"I know, I know, but you've got to come see this, it's a room full of Kung Fu treasures!"

"I know Po, it's called the front hall!" she yelled as she became irritated at Po's little interruption.

"No not the front hall. It's this room that I've never even seen, come on." Before she could protest, Po grabbed her arm and dragged her to the room. Upon arriving, she seized the opportunity to grab Po by his neck. "If you ever...EVER...do that again, I'm going to use you as my own personal training dummy!"

"I'm sorry, but you've got to see this." He said as he opened the door to reveal the room of treasures. Tigress was surprised, but not as entranced as Po was. She entered the room, wondering all the time why Shifu had failed to mention the room to any of them.

"Oh, there's one thing I think you'll really like, come on!" Po ran towards the location of the jeweled box, only to find it wasn't there. "WHAT? But it was here a minute ago!"

"You brought me in here to look an empty shelf?"

"NO, there was this really cool box here a minute ago, you've gotta believe me."

"The only thing I BELIEVE is that you dragged me here against my will just so you could have something to do. And furthermore, Master Shifu must have a good reason for not telling us about this room, so I suggest we leave before you break something and get both of us put on punishment." She turned to leave, making Po lower his head in disappointment. Then, he heard something behind him, but turned to see nothing. "Psst, Tigress, I think there's someone else in here." Tigress just rolled her eyes. "Po, quit trying to play around with me and just..." she stopped as she picked up a noise with her ear. She quickly turned and scanned the room with her eagle eyes. Po was about to speak, but was quickly silenced by Tigress's hand. "It's coming from over there." she whispered as she inched her way over to the location of the noise, which was what looked like a large shield lying against the wall. She put her hand on the shield, preparing herself for whatever or whoever was behind.

Bring her arm up to attack, she quickly swiped away the shield to reveal.....a lizard. Tigress mentally slapped herself for getting worked up over something like that and turned to Po. "You see what you're doing? Now you are making me paranoid." Po looked right at her until he noticed something weird was going on with the lizard. It was getting bigger, not just bigger mind you, it was growing larger than Tigress. "Uh, Tigress..."

"Don't interrupt me Po. You should try to use some common sense before getting scared over a little, tiny creature that couldn't even hurt you if it tried." As she ranted, the lizard began to stand up on its hind legs, grow razor sharp teeth, and its front reconfigured into arms with four claws each. Wings sprouted from its back and two large horns sprouted from its head. "Are you even listening to me!" Po merely pointed behind her with the palest expression she had ever seen on his face. She turned around and developed a similar expression as the sight of a three story tall dragon filled her eyes.

The creature growled at her, smoke billowing from its nostrils and an expression of hunger in its eyes.

"Uh (gulp) T-Tigress, I think now would be a good time to..." Before he could finish his statement, the dragon roared ferociously at them, a small fire exploding from its mouth in the process.

"RUUUUUN!!!" Po screamed as both he and Tigress sprinted for the door. The dragon ran after them, causing a small earthquake with each step. They reached the door and closed it behind them. Tigress used a metal pole to try and reinforce the door before they took off down the hall, only to have it smashed along with the door as the dragon continued its pursuit.

Po and Tigress scurried toward the large front door of the Palace with the dragon a mere five yards behind them. They hurriedly opened the massive door and didn't bother to close them as they jumped from the massive jaws of the mystical reptile. Tigress, being a cat of course landed on her feet, whereas Po, being a chubby Panda, landed on his gut. Tigress managed to get him on his feet before the dragon managed to smash through the front door. The two ran for the woods next to the palace, knowing that Po would never be able to make it down the stairs fast enough.

As they entered the woods, the dragon stopped following them. "Hey look!" Po shouted as he pointed out the large creature walking back to front of the palace doors and lying down. After taking a few minutes to catch their breath, Tigress gave Po her usual /I'm going to kill you/ stare. To which the only thing Po could do was say "Oops."

Whew, it's getting intense now. 3rd chapter will be up soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Do you realize what you've done? When Master Shifu gets back and sees this, he not just going to punish us, he's going to kill us!" Tigress screamed as Po attempted to get a word in edgewise. "OK OK, I know I goofed up, but I can fix this." Po argued, only to have Tigress shake her head.

"You have caused enough damage. I will deal with this beast, so don't get in the way and just stay here!" Tigress turned towards the direction of the dragon, who had now decided to take a nap in front of the palace door. Now was her chance to strike.

She got on all fours and sprinted towards the great beast, leaped into the air and came rocketing back down with her leg headed straight for the dragons head. Her leg impacted the nose of the dragon, but didn't even leave a mark. Tigress then began to curse herself as she realized her leg hurt like hades from hitting the stone like skin of the reptile.

The dragon opened one of its eyes to look straight at Tigress, who was now starting to rethink her strategy. Before she could try anything else, the beast sprang up roared once again. As she turned to run, she bumped into Po, who had come out of the woods to see if he could help. "PO, what are you..." She couldn't finish as both she and Po tripped over the great stairs behind them and began to roll down in a big ball.

The dragon roared once again but decided not to follow and instead walked back inside the palace, leaving the two palace-sitters to roll down the incredibly long staircase.

3 minutes later...

"OW...DOH...AIIIIE!" Po screamed as they approached the bottom of the stairs and in a huge quake landed on the bottom in a heap. Dizzy and partially knocked out by the trip, it took Tigress several seconds to realize Po was lying on top of her. She used her great strength to shove him off of her. "What is it with you and those stairs?"

"Hey I can't help it if gravity decided to be a jerk today."

"Today has not been the first day that gravity has been your enemy, believe me." Tigress retorted as she looked back up the stairs leading to the palace. The creature now had the high ground, which as all strategists know, is a huge advantage. The only way to get up to the palace which would not be as exposing as using the stairs would have to be the mountain trail around the palace, which would take them to the back of the palace, possibly catching the beast off guard.

"What are we gonna do now?" Po asked as he attempted to pop his back into shape.

"WE are going to do nothing. I am going to go around the mountain pass and catch the beast off guard and you are going to stay here!" she answered, looking Po straight in the eyes to emphasize her point.

"But Tigress, you know you have no chance against that thing at all by yourself, how do you think your gonna take it down?"

"The palace is filled with mystical weaponry, there must be something up there I can use. I'll give you the signal when I've gotten rid of it."

"No way, I'm going with you."

"Out of the question. You'll just end up getting yourself killed."

"Hey, if I can defeat Tai Lung, then a dragon should be no problem." Tigress then got to within an inch of his face.

"1)Tai Lung was a snow leopard, not a dragon. 2)Your defeat of Tai Lung was nothing more than a fluke due to us and Master Shifu wearing him down for you. And 3)It's your fault all this happened in the first place, so if you think I'm going to take the chance of you tagging along and screwing up once again and making things worse, you have another thing coming!" Tigress's words stung like a hornet. Did she really think that Po was just a fluke? Po then began to get serious.

"You're right, this is my fault, all the more reason why I should go with you. I made this mess, I should help clean it up." Tigress's patience was wearing thin. After a moment of thought, and realizing that Po would just follow her if she refused, she finally said, "Alright fine, but if you screw up, even once, I'm throwing back over here. Do you understand?"

Po nodded his head and they began their long trek to the mountain pass. Po had to admit, if he had to choose between the stairs and the mountain pass, he would choose the stairs. There were so many obstacles along the pass that they barely see in front of them. Before they knew it, night was falling and Tigress decided that the best course of action would be to stop and rest for the night.

Setting up a fire for warmth, she and Po then began to make a roof for the night, as it looked like a rain shower was coming. After putting up the makeshift shelter, the two prepared to go to sleep. But Po wasn't really tired, he was actually more hungry right now, but he felt it best not to mention it. Tigress laid down with her back to Po, further increasing the border between them. The rain began to fall, making the roof above them make far too much noise for Po to sleep. After a few minutes, he began to get bored.

"Hey Tigress, you asleep?" Tigress cringed in irritation.

"Not anymore." She answered groggily as Po was thinking of something to say.

"I'm.....sorry for all of this. I just wanted to find something that could maybe...I don't know...help us be friends."

"So you unleash a fierce and very territorial dragon in the palace that tried to eat us. Oh yes, I feel oh so chummy right now, don't you?" she answered sarcastically.

"I didn't mean to. I just wanted to give you that box, because I thought you might like it and then I remembered what Shifu said and...well...I dropped it. It was an accident."

"An accident? Po, someone dropping a dish while trying to was them is an accident, kick someone in the groin while sparring is an accident, what you did is what is called a disaster, which is pretty much all you have been since the day you landed in front of me during the tournament." Po then began to notice a pattern.

"Is that the only reason you don't like me....because I was picked to be the Dragon Warrior over you?"

"No, I got over that months ago."

"Then why do you still hate me? I mean, you bowed in respect to me after I defeated Tai Lung and yet you still hate me." Tigress was now starting to get a little ticked off.

"The reason I bowed to you was because it was the respectful thing to do after you saved the Valley of Peace. Afterward, I came back to my senses and realized that even though you may have gotten lucky, you were still no warrior. Even if Master Shifu did."

"What does Shifu have to do with this?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why did you mention him?"

"Because....because....just forget it!"

"Just tell me, why do care what Shifu thinks of me?"

"Because!"

"Because why?!?"

"BECAUSE I WANT HIM TO BE PROUD OF ME, NOT YOU! THERE, ARE YOU HAPPY? I SAID IT!" She screamed it out like she was a steaming tea pot that had been boiling with the lid welded on for years. "All my life, I slaved and slaved to make Shifu proud of me! I studied until my eyes were sore, I trained until my bones ached, and when I finally had the chance to make him truly proud of me, what happens? You show up and take it all away from me! The reason I went after Tai Lung before you was because I wanted to show Shifu that I could do it. To show him that he could be proud of me. What happens? I fail, then you show up once again and did what I couldn't do! That's what you're best at isn't it, doing things better than I can? Well....are you happy now....to see me in my moment of weakness....well....ARE YOU?!?" Her voice echoed through the hills for miles around. The only thing Po could do was sit there and stare.

A thought popped into his head. Is this the same way Tai Lung felt when he was denied the Dragon Scroll? As he pondered this, he noticed Tigress do something he never saw her do before...she started crying. "I just want him to be truly proud of me. Is that so horrible?"

"Tigress...I..."

"Just forget it! I don't want sympathy....I don't want anything from you! Just leave me alone." She then turned away from Po again and continued to silently sob herself to sleep. Po just sat there for a few more minutes. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Tigress hated him, not just because she felt she should be the dragon warrior, but because she felt he stole Shifu's love from her. He felt so horrible that he just laid down and stared at the stars until he fell to sleep.

I know, it's unusual for me to write something sappy like this in my stories, but I felt it would give the story more substance. Anyway, you know what to do. R&R.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Morning broke over the valley of peace. Po was awoken by a bird singing on an above branch. Opening his eyes slowly, he began to remember his and Tigress's little altercation the night before. Sighing deeply, he got ready for whatever she was about to do to him. Flipping over, he said, "Tigress, are you awa...." he didn't complete the sentence, because Tigress was no longer there.

Getting up, he looked around for her, but she was long gone. "Where could she have....aw man, she didn't." He heard a roar in the distance coming from the palace. "She did."

At the palace....

Tigress was way over her head when she decided to go on without Po. The dragon had her on the run once again as she couldn't find one single weapon that was effective against it. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, so she accidentally ran into a dead end. Having nowhere to go, she prepared herself mentally for her imminent fate. The dragon reared its powerful head back and prepared to strike, until, "Hey, scaly!" The dragon turned to see Po standing behind it with the best hero pose he could do.

"Nobody messes with my friend, so get ready to feel the THUNDA!" He charged at the dragon, fist pulled back, and with one powerful swing, he slammed it into the dragons leg. Bad idea.

"YEEEEEEEOOOOOWWWWWW!" Po screamed as he held his hand and kissed it in a desperate attempt to relieve the pain.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Tigress asked rhetorically. "No, but hey, I tried." He argued as the dragon focused its attention on him. Po quickly dodged the wall of flame then created by the powerful creature. Only, after doing so, he was trapped against a wall by the beast, who pulled its four clawed hand back to finish off its prey. Only when it brought it down, Po was already gone. **HMMM?** The dragon wondered as it looked around for its would be meal.

Po and Tigress materialized in front of the door from where the whole thing started. Catching their breaths, they looked each other in the eyes, trying to fight back the awkwardness of the moment. Before either of them could say anything, Tigress heard the dragon coming and pulled Po into the treasure room before it could see them.

"Whew, for a second there, I thought we were goners." Po stated in relief as he looked at his savior. She was still catching her breath, but he could tell even then that she was still feeling bad about the night before. Po decided that if ever there was a time for them to talk, being hunted by a thirty foot tall dragon was it.

"Tigress, about last night.....I'm sorry....I didn't mean to make you-"

"What.....dishonor myself.....reveal my weaker side.....of course you didn't. You never MEAN to do anything, you just do." She turned her back to him and put her hand on the wall to hold herself up. After a few seconds of silence, Po spoke out. "Listen Tigress....I know how you feel....thinking that your father isn't proud of you."

"Shifu is not my father Po."

"No...not in blood....but in spirit he is. And if there's anyone out there who knows what your feeling right now, it's me." Po took a seat next to where Tigress was standing and continued his story. "When I was a little kid, I first started liking Kung Fu when I wasn't even old enough to talk. My dad thinks my first words were 'Noodle soup' when in reality they were 'Kung Fu', those were just the words he heard. He was so proud of his noodle loving son that he started teaching me to cook just a few days after that. He always believed I was destined to take over the family business, but I never really wanted to, while at the same time, I didn't want to disappoint him by saying otherwise. When I was chosen by Master Oogway to be the Dragon Warrior, and those chair carrier guys were taking me up to the palace, I looked back to the front doors of the arena and saw my dad, lowering his head and walking back towards the stairs to his noodle shop. I felt so terrible on the way up to the palace that at one point I wanted to jump off the chair and run back down to my dad. The only thing that stopped me was that I was sorta...stuck in the chair. On the day that Tai Lung attacked, I found my dad at his noodle shop, packing up his supplies onto a cart. While we were walking out of the city, I told my dad that I didn't think that noodles were my destiny. Then my dad told me that the secret ingredient in his secret ingredient soup was....nothing. After that, it helped me figure out that the Dragon Scroll wasn't the secret to limitless power....I was. After I defeated Tai Lung, my dad finally said the words I had wanted him to say all along, _I'm proud of you son!_ All because I believed in myself, something you haven't been doing. So even though it may look like Shifu isn't proud of you...he really is." Tigress looked at her reflection in the puddle of tears she had shed during Po's story. Upon looking, she finally understood what Po had been saying. If she wanted Shifu to be proud of her, and maybe even love her, all she had to do was believe in herself.

She raised her head up to look at Po, walked over to him, and hugged him. "Thank you Po.....and I'm sorry for the way I treated you. Please forgive me." Trying her best to hold back more tears, Po simply looked at her and said, "Ah, no worries, I'm just glad we're friends now." The moment was broken by the sound of loud banging and roaring sounds coming from the door. The dragon had found them!

"Because I don't think we're gonna live much longer." Po said as the door began to crack and splinter due to the strength being exerted on it. Tigress looked at the door, then at Po, then around the room for anything that would even remotely useful. They backed up in the process and bumped into what appeared to be a whole wall of scrolls. Tigress then had an idea.

"Quick Po, look through these scrolls for anything about that box you saw!" Po nodded his head and began sorting through all the scrolls for anything about dragons or jeweled boxes with her. While searching, they could hear the door getting weaker and weaker by the minute, all the time marveling at the integrity of the door for it to last this long. Just as it seemed that they were done for.... "EUREKA! I found it!" Po yelled as he opened the scroll and skimmed through it. The box was called the Crystal Box of Draconus, and was created in the Ming Dynasty by mage whose village was repeatedly being terrorized by a fierce dragon. He mustered all the chi and magic that he could and one day managed to transform the powerful beast into a lizard and trap it in an enchanted jeweled box, which would keep it from reverting back into a dragon. Upon reading further, Po found the spell he used to transform the dragon into a lizard, but realized one very important detail....he didn't know magic.

"Okay I found the way to change it back into a lizard, but ...."

"But what?"

"You wouldn't happen to know magic would you?"

"No."

"Then we are totally and completely screwed." He said as the door finally gave way and revealed the cause of their problems. Thinking fast, Tigress picked up the very shield she found the lizard under the day before and threw it at the dragons mouth, temporarily keeping its mouth open and distracting it. They seized the opportunity and ran underneath the dragons legs into the hallway.

"What are we gonna do now. Neither of us know magic and even if we did, the dude who did this originally had to save up chi and magic for days in order to do it." Po stated pessimistically while running for the front hall. Tigress pondered the question and had an idea.

"We may not know magic, but that doesn't mean we can't try. If we get him into the front hall, we will have enough room to do the spell."

"But what about all the power we need to do it."

"We'll do it together. Out combined chi will give us enough power to do it." Po still looked skeptical.

"Po, you just told me that I should believe in myself, and right now I believe we can do this." Tigress gave Po what he hadn't seen her do in a long time...a smile. He smiled back and they headed for the front hall.

They entered the hall and stopped halfway through and turned to face the dragon. At this point, Po thought of one question they had somehow overlooked.

"How are we gonna get it to stand still?" Tigress had to admit she hadn't thought of that. She then looked around and saw the giant, golden sculpture of a dragon in which the Dragon Scroll used to preside.

"I have an idea, but I'll need a distraction."

"One distraction, comin' up!" Po yelled as he drew the dragons attention away from Tigress to allow her to work. The amazing thing about Po was that he was incredibly nimble when it came to avoiding being eaten. Tigress jumped her way up to the sculpture and one by one, kicked and punched the main moorings out. After leaving a few moorings left to keep the sculpture up for a little bit longer, it was ready to go.

"PO, lure it under the sculpture!" Po happily obliged and ran under the golden dragon and, timing it just right, jumped out of the way, leaving the dragon under the sculpture.

"NOW!!!" Po screamed as Tigress destroyed the last of the moorings, allowing the sculpture to fall onto the dragon, pinning it down.

Tigress jumped down next to Po, who had already opened the scroll to reveal the spell. Channeling their Chi together, they started to chant the ancient spell in perfect unison. After what seemed like an eternity, the dragon began to glow along with Po and Tigress. Finishing the spell, the two warriors braced themselves for whatever may happen. The room was filled with the light from the glowing dragon, which lasted for about a minute. The light finally subsided, and they opened their eyes to reveal both the box and the dragon-turned lizard. Reacting quickly, Po picked up the box, Tigress picked up the lizard, and they both placed it into the box. After closing the box, the four clawed lock swiftly latched back into place with a loud thwack. The hall fell silent....it was finally over.

"WE DID IT!" They yelled in universal joy as they hugged each other. After about a minute, they broke the hug and walked back to the treasure room, placing the box back on the shelf.

Surveying the damage, they were amazed that the dragon hadn't completely destroyed everything. Tigress broke the silence in the front hall. "Po....thank you for believing in me...like I should have done a long time ago."

"No problem. So.....does that mean we're cool now?"

"Of course." They then shook hands and, once again, engaged in a friendly hug. The moment was broken however by an unexpected 'Ahem' from behind them. They turned to see a messenger duck.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I have a message from Shifu."

"Oh, OK what is it?" Po asked.

"Ahem, 'Dear Po and Tigress, how are you? I hope you two are getting along and our trip has been shortened a day due to a faster than expected peace treaty. So we should be there a few hours after this messenger duck arrives. Signed, Shifu.'"

"Well isn't that nice of him, checking up on us."

"Yes, that quite considerate of...." They both realized at the same time.

"A FEW HOURS!" Looking around again, they saw how much damage there was left to repair.

"Yep, so if I were you, I'd try to tidy up a little before he gets back." Both Po and Tigress turned to stare menacingly at the duck, who decided that now was the time to leave.

"I'll....be going now." he turned and fled out what used to be the palace door. Realizing they were doomed, they sat against the wall.

Po suggested, "Well.....maybe he won't notice the damage."

A few hours later.....

He noticed. They had never seen Shifu this angry since the day Mantis accidentally kicked over his sapling peach tree during meditation. He screamed so many obscenities that everyone cringed upon hearing them.

"PO, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WERE SO IRRESPONSIBLE! I ASK YOU TO DO ONE SIMPLE THING, NOT TO BREAK ANYTHING, SO WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU BREAK EVERYTHING!!!" Po hanged his head in shame while Tigress simply looked on.

"I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU SUCH A LONG PUNISHMENT, FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL REFER TO IT AS THE 'PO PUNISHMENT'!" Tigress couldn't stand it anymore, so she stepped forward.

"Master, don't blame Po. It was my fault." Everyone was shocked at her statement, especially Po.

"It was my cruel treatment of Po that made him try to find someway to find acceptance with me. If anyone should be punished....it should be me, not Po." Shifu considered this for a few seconds and made a decision.

"Very well. You will both be punished. You shall both not only repair the palace completely, but you shall also give it a fresh coat of paint afterward. Is that understood?" Tigress and Po stood together and bowed. "Yes Master!"

While the others rushed to their rooms to assess the damage, Po and Tigress walked toward the supply shed to begin repairing the damage.

"Tigress, may I speak to you for a moment?" Shifu asked, catching her off guard. She turned to stand in front of him with Po looking on. "Not you Po, just Tigress." Po then exited the room, heading for the shed.

"Tigress, why did you admit to your part in this catastrophe? I thought you didn't like Po."

"I didn't Master, it was that hatred that led to this. You see, the reason why I felt that way was because....I felt that he was stealing you from me." Shifu raised an eyebrow.

"Stealing me?"

"Yes. Every day since you brought me here from the orphanage, I have been trying my hardest to make you feel proud. But every time I tried, you would simply turn me away. When the tournament came, I felt that I finally had my chance to make you proud, but-"

"Then Po came along." Shifu finished, starting to understand what she was saying.

"Yes. I felt like I had lost my chance. Then when Tai Lung escaped, I thought that if I managed to defeat him, you would finally be proud of me. When I didn't and Po did, I began to feel like I had lost your pride and in a way......your love." Shifu closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well Tigress, for your recent change of heart and quick thinking in this time of crisis, along with all your years of hard training and work.....I can honestly say.....I have never been prouder of you." This statement forced Tigress to raise her head to look at Shifu straight in the eyes. Unable to contain herself, she lunged forward and hugged him like she had never hugged anyone before. "Thank you Master......thank you."

"You are welcome." Little did they know that outside of the hall stood Po, along with the rest of the Furious Five. All of whom were either shedding at least a single tear or all out balling.

"You can come out now." Shifu declared. Po and the others then stepped into the hall, obviously embarrassed about being caught. Releasing Shifu from their hug, she switched back to her usual intimidating persona.

"If any of you go around the Valley telling everyone about me going soft, I will tie you to wall and kick you through it. Understand?"

"Crystal!" They all shouted in unison. Crane, Mantis, Viper, and Monkey exited the hall followed soon after by Shifu who had to survey to rest of the damage. This left only Tigress and Po alone in the front hall. "See? I told you he was proud of you." Po pointed out.

"Yes you did. Thank you."

"No problem. Well, I guess we'd better get to fixing the place, huh?"

"I suppose."

"I'm just that none of the Kung Fu relics were damaged during the fight, or we'd be in even bigger trouble."

"Indeed." They walked together toward the shed while they talked, but were suddenly stopped by Shifu's distant yell of, "What happened to the Sacred Shield of Warriors!! TIGRESS.....POOOOO!"

They looked at each other for a second.

"HE DID IT!"

"SHE DID IT!"

Done! Phew, this is the first multi-chapter story I've actually completed. Hope you liked it. R&R.


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